October 2005

The secret of success in tidying up the garden is, simply, not to start new projects.

A hundred objective measurements didn't sum the worth of a garden; only the delight of its users did that. Only the use made it mean something.

Gardening is never risk free. It's not risk free in your first year and it's not risk free in your 40th. . . .There's always another strange spin on the ball. There's always more to learn.

When dealing with frost it is always best to be paranoid. In the spring never think it is too late for one more frost to come. And in the fall never think it too early.

…the shivery perfection that winter can bring to our gardens.

In a lot of ways, I'm just hitting my stride, just a little more tired while striding.

Despite these losses and setbacks, like King Sisyphus, gardeners forever keep rolling that rock up the hill, convinced we are progressing toward the day it will stay in place up there and not roll back on us, the day our gardens will be just as we want them.

April comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.